Niranchi and the Fang Blade
by E. P. Myst
Summary: A boy who lives on an island in Japan and is bitten by a snake while retrieving an animal from outside of his underground home.


On the small Japanese island of Sun-ku, lived a young intelligent 13-year-old boy by the name of Niranchi Quinta. Niranchi was Japan's number one expert on snakes; until his revile, Julius, defeated him in a herpetology competition. His knowledge was infinite, from the Japanese Water Runner to the Blue Alaskan Sloth Snake. Niranchi lives in the well-vegetated lush town of Hebi where has learned to spend all his time reading and studying snakes. He attends Hebi Middle School and is now starting 8th grade. Living with only his mom Niranchi lives in an underground paradise. Now before we get too deep into the story we need a quick geography lesson, this island is located between Japan and the waters of the Pacific Ocean. It was about 500 km, 24-hour ferry ride, to the shore of Tokyo.

"BRINNNNNNNNNG! BRINNNNNNNNNNNNG! BRINNNNNNG!" went the school bell informing the students of Hebi Middle School that the school day had concluded. Niranchi was the first one to exit the building with a sign of relief on his face. "I'm so excited and relieved that it's over with. I can't wait to see what grade on it tomorrow." he said to himself, "I never thought my presentation would go so smoothly." Niranchi had just finished giving a power point presentation on Egyptian snakes. As he began his walk home he was pondering on what he should do for a career, "I could be a herpetologist, start a snake rescue mission home, or be archeologist." he would say to himself. He also loved to admire the beautiful scenery that surrounded his home.

Along the trail he followed, Niranchi passed the bocce ball field, a 30' by 30' patch of green grass. He remembered the day say the high school played against the middle school. Also he saw all the buildings that circled his dwelling, like the hospital, school, super market and library. Then he saw the hill on which a furnace was perch.

He was approaching, in 5 minutes, his home and saw the sign that read, "Watch for flimsy plastic windows in ground." This reminded him of when they had decided on moving to Sun- ku when he was 10. They had to design their own so Niranchi and his mom began to brainstorm, first decided on close to the school and hospital, second they had to decide on what it looked like. Though that they couldn't decide on the same thing they had come to the conclusion to compromised that Niranchi would design the house and his mother would do the interior design as long as it wasn't girly and classic. So when Niranchi was designing the house he decided on a dome home underground, this would explain why he referrers to his home as an underground paradise. The reason for choosing this underground quality of his submerged dwelling was when he was fascinated with the Arabian Mole Snake, which digs 1 km below the sand to live in a cool area instead in the heat of the desert. Niranchi thought, and was correct, that if they live under ground there would be heat during the winter and cool air the summer. Beyond the sign was his beautiful lush cut lawn, except for the pile cut grass that was left there by Niranchi early that day, with a large iron trap door in the middle the lot.

Niranchi was 10m from the lot in which his house was buried. He came upon and glanced down at his personal pond to see the Japanese Water Runner that he kept there, but instead of walking on, as usual, he suddenly stopped and realized that it wasn't there. "Why is it not here? It's not like a Japanese Water Runner would just migrate to another pond because they stay in the same pond they were born in unless someone moves them to a different, then it just stays there unless moved again. Plus, it would die if it was out too long because they stay cool by being in water." Once he ended his fact reciting he heard a soft chuckle behind the bush behind the small pond. He snuck around the pool of water to see that his arch foe, Julius, was taking notes on what Niranchi had said about the snake. Taking advantage of this opportunity, since Julius knew that Niranchi knew more about snakes then Julius claimed to be, he turned around and tip toed around the pool to resume his position. Then he started to rattle off all he of the Russian Toxin Spitter, making sure to not mention how the snake keeps cool and warm. "It also spits toxin at its enemies so I guess it would survive for about 100 km." one he recited as though he was actually speaking of the Japanese Water Runner. Then Julius burst out laughing just like after the herpetology competition, "Do you have all you need you sneak?" Niranchi scorned.

"Most definitely, you gullible little twit." Julius replied as he ran off into a grove of trees. Then Niranchi noticed that Julius had let go of something and realized that it was the Japanese Water Runner that swam in his pond. He reached down and let the serpent slither and coil up in his hand. He could tell it was barely hanging on to life by the fire hot touch of its smooth skin. So he put it into the pool of cool water and let it get a chance the cool down and regain some energy before taking him into the house. Then proud of his achievement Niranchi pivoted on his heel to go get the water bowl in which he would transport the snake. He began to walk toward the iron trap through which to get into the house. Then like a bolt from the blue Niranchi tripped on what he thought was a rock. Falling down with his hands out in front of him, he saw his short life flash before him in a matter of seconds; thinking he was going to dive through the window close by, fortunately Niranchi found that had went face first into the pile of warm dry cut grass.

"What a relief. I'm glad that I cut the grass this morning. Luckily I was in a hurry to get school, and left it here." Niranchi said to himself in relief, then he thought what his mom would say. So he pulled himself together then quickly strode across the lawn to the iron trap door through which was an inverted pipe where there was a ladder that led into Niranchi's underground haven. He opened the iron door and made his way down the ladder. Once at the bottom he called out, "Mom, I'm home, and my presentation was outstanding and went very smoothly," trying to avoid the subject of the grass, and kept walking.

"That's great honey but are you okay? I heard a thump on the ceiling it was soft, but sounded like you fell," his mother replied with a worried tone in her voice.

Abruptly stopping, knowing the his plan didn't work, he replied, "I'm fine. I did fall but I landed in the pile of cut grass I left this morning before going to school"

"That's great that you're okay, but why did you leave that there? It makes our lawn look like a piece of quality crap and unkempt. Plus, the windows were open all day because I was at work."

"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry to get to school. I'll remember next time."

"Okay you're off the hook this time." Niranchi gave her a big hug then turned around to retrieve the water bowl. "Make sure you dispose of that grass while you're getting your snake."

With a long sigh, "Yes mom what ever you say." And with saying this he grabbed the water bowl along with a garbage bag, a two way radio and the keys to the furnace located 2 yard away from the ladder. He climbed the ladder while holding the bowl in his mouth and the keys, radio and bag in his pocket. "I'll start with the grass," Niranchi thought out loud "that way I don't have to walk over the pile." The pile was a pretty good size for grass. He stuffed it all into the garbage bag, which was a pretty good size itself. Then he flung the bag over his shoulder before trekking up the hill to the furnace and leaving the bowl behind. Once he arrived he emptied the bag into a box that was connected to a small conveyer belt. Then inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it hard to the right and the machine roared. The conveyer belt pulled the grass to an inverted tunnel, which had a blazing fire covering the inside walls and a closing at the end to keep the ashes off the grass. Niranchi let it run for about two minutes so all the grass was in the tunnel before turning it off then giving the key a hard turn to the left. Before he turned the key he had signaled his mom over the radio to open all the windows. Once he made the hard turn of the key, the conveyer belt came to a halt and an iron blast shield closed the opening of the tunnel. Then Niranchi pushed a button and there was a blast of heat escaping through the vents in the house that were connected to the furnace. This was occurring because a burst of toxic fire had erupted out from the bottom of the tunnel causing the ashes to be destroyed.

After this procedure was finished, Niranchi sped toward the pool of water and picked up the water dish. He filled it with the water from the pool and pulled the snake out and placed him in the dish. He now signaled that it was safe to close the windows except his. Then sitting down and admiring the way the Japanese Water Runner used its tale to propel itself through the water by wiping it or spinning it. Then he glanced to the front of him to see a snake. The snake looked to be a yard long and was as thick as the trunk of Blue Spruce in the state of Colorado. Its scaly skin was as black as the heart of a dragon with blood red, fire orange and sun yellow streaks all patterned around its long massive body. Then before Niranchi knew it the snake had struck him on the ankle with lightning fast muscle action. As soon as the snake released him Niranchi fell silent, then he let out a piercing cry, which echoed all through his house. Hearing the scream it alarmed his mother and she came rushing up and to see that the yelling had ceiced but her young boy was lying on the ground as blue as the Arabian sky and, though through all the camotion the water bowl sitting there next to the boy's ice cold. So with haste she lowered the snake down through the open window using the pulley and rope mechanism that Niranchi had made for that very purpose. Then she picked her boy up, kicked the window shut and rushed him off to the emergency room.

After waiting for an hour and a half the doctor came out of the analysis room. "Miss Quinta I'm happy to tell you that your boy is alright after being exposed to that snake bite." He informed her. She could hear a consulting tone in his voice even though it didn't help, but then it changed to a confused tone. "But the reactions he had can not be explained, even though this same event had occurred 50 years ago when my father had worked here."

"Thank you Dr. Kirmen. Can I see him?" She asked anxiously still shaken up. Then she came to her senses. "Actually he should sleep and get some rest. Please call me when he wakes up."z

"Um, Miss Quinta your boy is fine he has a burst of energy in his system right now. He can go home with you right this second. We're estimating that he has enough energy to make it home but he must go to bed as soon as he enters the house."

"That's great news. I'll definitely make sure he's in bed at once when we arrive. Thank you for all you has done."

"You are most certainly welcome." Then, giving each other quick firm hand shack, Dr. Kirmen turned around entered the room where Niranchi was and came back escorting him to his mom. Niranchi wrapped himself around his mom and they both began to cry tears of joy knowing that he could have been dead. They stood there for 2 minutes then they let go and strode toward the front doors. Before exiting Niranchi turned around and waved good-bye to the doctor with a big smile on his face. Then turned around and raced out of the building to meet his mom who was waiting outside next to the columns that supported the structure. His mom took him by the hand and they began to walk toward the ice cream shop across the street. They entered the shop and with enthusiasm Niranchi ordered.

"I would like a double scoop of chocolate scale cookie dough." Niranchi told the cashier girl. He looked at his mother, "Thanks mom for the ice cream. Now we need to get home." His mom smiled as the girl handed him the cup of frozen creamy delight. Once his mom paid they set off out the door. "Did you put the snake in my room?"

"Yes I did and I used your rope and pulley mechanism to it because I was in a hurry. But right now I'm glad that you are okay." She replied as they began to approach the iron door that would have been open but fortunately Niranchi made sure that it closed and latch by itself.

Niranchi opened the door and before he went down he finished his ice cream off, looked into her deep blue eyes and responded, "Me too mom, me too." He gave her a giant bear hug then climbed down the ladder. As soon as he stepped into the house he approach and entered his bedroom.


End file.
